Pottery Gallery Shimairo

There are 4 remote islands in Uruma city located in the center of Okinawa main island,
and you can go there by car.
As you drive through Henza Island across the Kaicyu Road
 (Mid-Sea Road) and drive straight ahead, you would arrive at Miyagi Island.
The landscape from the hilltop called Takahanari is really a breath taking and beautiful.



There are horses with a swinging tail and eating the grass,
Sugar cane leaves swinging by nice breeze.
Surrounded by the great nature, time goes slowly in this island.

You would find a gourd shaped lovely signboard in Tobaru district in Miyagi Island.
That is the Pottery Gallery Shimairo (means island colors).
The ground floor is the studio and the gallery space is on 2F.





As the studio and gallery space are in the same building
and you could see their production style very closely. 
This is a place where you can not only purchase a pottery
but also see how an artist daily works on creating their pottery. 
If you are interested in arts and crafts, this place would be a wonderful one



Mr. Katsushi Shimabukuro opened this studio in Miyagi Island in 2009.
He moved here to make his dream comes true by baking his works in firewoods kiln.
He used to make pottery in black and white colors basically, however,
after his relocation, his design and taste for colors have changed. By now,
he has been inspired of shapes and colors he sees in this island.

He wishes to memorize scenes in the great nature in his mind before fading
and reflect the memories on his works. His bowls do not have vivid colors,
but pale colors which he might have seen in the sky, sea or forest before.

His dreams are not yet completed. He has been trying to make his own firewood kiln
and one day we wants to create a bowl made of the island soil and his memories
of the nature scenes which he will never forget.
I am looking forward to seeing such his bowls in near future.



Tohboh (Pottery) Gallery Shimairo

Address/428-6, Tobaru, Yonashiro, Uruma city
TEL/098-977-8086
Open/13:00～19:00
Close/Mon. To Thu., 2^nd Sunday

Dealers

Gallery Haraiso
Address/1-9-24, Ishikawa Akebono, Uruma city
TEL/098-989-3262

Garbo Domingo
Address/1-6-3, Tsuboya, Naha city
TEL/098-988-0244

Gallery Eclectic
Address/66 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 5JF
URL／http://eclectic66.co.uk/1/

Okinawa CLIP Photo writer monobox（河野哲昌、河野こずえ）